Back in the race!

Friday, August 19, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Last night I made my return to racing after a substantial layoff from the race scene. In fact this race particular race; Saunders 10K, has been a regular event for me to cheer my runners on instead of actually running. I cannot even remember the last time I ran this race and I am thinking it has been at least 5 years. Anyhow, last night I lined up with the runners and battled through the 6.2 miles and managed to finish around 56:25. Far from a spectacular time but, I was happy with it. Definitely a little too fast early and that led to some struggles late but, that tends to happen when you are your own coach. I haven’t looked at my splits yet but my guess is that my pace was around 8:30 for the first couple miles and then 9 something for the middle 2 miles, followed by close to 10 minute miles to finish. Overall my pace was 8:58 and while I am pleased with that, I am not pleased with my strategy or lack thereof. Regardless I finished healthy and happy, so the race was a success! Now I have a better idea as to what I need to focus on the next few weeks to prepare for “Reach the Beach”. As is often the case I saw many of my friends that are a part of the Seacoast running community. Truly it is awesome to see so many runners that I have worked with in the past as well as others that I have come to know. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know so many great people and it is always great to catch up with them. “No Finish Line Running” was out in full force for Saunders and I could not have been more proud of how well we represent! We now have multiple types of running shirts and it is so cool to see them all over the running scene. Doug Mackinnon continues to lead the way despite much of his focus being on coaching and the new website. Doug came in around 52 minutes and I have no doubt that he could run a sub 45 if his focus were solely on running. No doubt about it, Doug would like to pick up the pace more but, he also enjoys being the leader of “NFLR-NH”. It is a tough balance to coach groups and also maintain a high level of your own running. It takes a lot of hard work and discipline. Doug will figure it out and when he does, he will see his times drop. In any event, Doug did an awesome job last night. The rest of us wearing the “NFLR” shirts might not have been able to keep up with Doug but, we all battled to finish on a fairly warm night for running. Great night of running on the Seacoast! Thankfully today will be a recovery day for all of us before we are back at the Center tomorrow (8am) to continue training for the “Mt. Washington Milers” half marathon and relay. This training particular training group is my favorite for many reasons and there is still time to join. We have so much fun at this race and it is a great opportunity to get away and enjoy the beautiful White Mountains. The funny thing about the course for this race is that despite it being up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, it is the flattest half marathon course in the Granite state. Truly a great race and we have a great time as a group. Time to get along. Have a great day and an even better weekend. Just maybe I will see you on the roads! God Bless! Mike